Chapter 1

ARTHUR WALTER KEDDIE, FATHER OF THE WESTERN
PACIFIC

Page 2

The Boca and Loyalton was about fourteen miles long and tapped a
rich timber belt, and it was necessary that much of the timber
should be secured for the purpose of giving the railroad and lumber
mills under the same ownership employment. Albert S. Parsons, John
H. Engle, Richard H. Lewis and William S. Lewis were employees of W.
H. Roberts, and it was claimed that they induced citizens to take up
timber tracts and turn them over to the railroad company for a small
consideration.

June 2 found the accused James M. Engles, William S. Lewis, Richard
H. Lewis, Albert. S. Parsons, Arthur W. Keddie and Julien E. Pardee
put on trial in the United States district court for timber
stealing. Another action for subordination of perjury had also been
filed against the respondents. They stood accused of having
wrongfully, willfully and unlawfully persuaded certain persons to
prove up and to acquire title to certain tracts of lands in the
Susanville Land district.

The United States grand jury on March 1, 1902 had found that the
defendants had furnished certain citizens of Lassen county with
funds in order that they might obtain possession of certain lands
and then, at a later date, turn the same over to the company of
which the defendants were stockholders and charter members. By
securing the lands, the men it was alleged, intended to promote
certain railroad and real estate plans that they had in view at a
nominal cost to themselves.

The prosecution of the cases came to an inglorious end though when
it was discovered that H. C. Cullom, special agent for the United
States land office, had the indictments drawn so that one act was
alleged while another was proved. As soon as this discovery was made
First Assistant United States Attorney Banning announced that the
prosecution had no case. Judge De Haven instructed the jury to
render a verdict of acquittal, which was done before they left the
jury box.

The defendants were alleged to have secured about ten thousand acres
of valuable timber. The prosecution had obtained testimony to the
effect that the persons who were induced to make the illegal
application were paid their expenses and one hundred dollars each.

Agent Cullom was detailed by the Land Department to prepare the
evidence in the case. The original applications, which were to be
produced by the prosecution during the trial, were sent to
Washington but were not returned to the United States Attorney's
office in San Francisco until the morning of June 2 while the trial
was in progress. Mr. Cullom supplied the facts on which the case was
presented before the Grand Jury and on which the indictments were
drawn. When the applications were opened in court it was found that
the alleged false oaths had been taken before persons other than
those named in the indictment.

Early in the day Bert Schlesinger of counsel for the defense
demurred to the indictment on the grounds that it did not allege
certain knowledge on the part of the defendants and the persons whom
it was charged were associated with them, but Judge de Haven ruled
that there was no merit in the point raised and the case went on.
William E. Langdon, a country butcher, testified that he had taken
up 100 acres and afterward sold the tract to Captain Roberts of
Sacramento. He made $100 and expenses on the deal and did not
consider that he had done anything unlawful. Having purchased the
land from Government, he thought that he had a right to sell it to
whomsoever he pleased

Mrs. Elizabeth Little, a chambermaid of Loyalton, Sierra County, was
the next witness, and it was while she was on the stand that the
denouement came. She testified that on May 11 of 1901 she filed an
application for a tract and took the oath before H. M. Mallech,
Receiver of the Land Department at Marysville. The indictment
charged that she had taken the oath before Frank W. Johnson, the
Register. There were similar fatal variances all through the
indictments.

Mr. Banning said that he would go before the Grand Jury the next day
and procure the reindictment of the defendants on charges of having
procured false oaths from other persons than those named in the
defective indictment.

The United States Grand Jury presented its final report and several
indictments to United States District Judge de Haven on the
afternoon of July 3, 1902. The indictments were placed on the secret
file. A new indictment was presented against James M. Engle, real
estate agent; William S. Lewis and Richard H. Lewis, lumber men, and
Arthur W. Keddie, surveyor, charging them with subornation of
perjury, in that they induced several persons to make false
affidavits for applications for timber lands in Lassen, Plumas and
Sierra counties. On the former indictment Albert S. Parson and
Julien E. Pardee were also charged, but the indictment was found to
be defective and was quashed. In the opinion of the prosecution this
time the cases against Parsons and Pardee were not considered
sufficiently strong to warrant reindictment.

Arthur W. Keddie and James M. Engle were again arrested, this time
in Plumas County on August 25, 1902 by Deputy United States Marshal
de Lancie on the new indictment charging them with subornation of
perjury in connection with alleged timber land frauds.

Although months had passed since the new indictments had been
presented and this new trial began on October 5, 1903 one of the
first items First Assistant United States District Attorney Banning
asked for was a postponement of the trial of the case of the United
States against James M. Engle, William S. Lewis, Richard H. Lewis
and Arthur W. Keddie for conspiracy and subornation of perjury. It
was then that words of censure burst sternly from the lips of United
States District Judge de Haven. The judicial censure was directed
against the office of the United States District Attorney, because
several very important witnesses for the Government had not been
served with process compelling their attendance.

Mr. Banning said afterward that the court's censure was unjust and
uncalled for, because the District Attorney's office had filed the
summons with the United States Marshal on September 7 and the
District Attorney's office should not have been held responsible for
the failure of the Marshal's deputy to find the witnesses. Since the
beginning of the prosecution, he said, the missing witnesses, all of
whom were employees of the defendant at Loyalton, Sierra County, had
gone to other parts of the State and could not be found.

On behalf of the United States Marshal's office, it was said that
the office force was too small to do the work required of it, Deputy
De Lancie being confined to his home by sickness and the office
being in the throes of the Chinese substitution scandal at the time
the precipe was issued.

The defendants were the wealthy owners of the Boca and Loyalton
Railway Company and of the Loyalton Lumber Company in Sierra County.
In conjunction with Captain J. H. Roberts, a well known steamboat
man, they erected a large sawmill at Loyalton and built the Boca and
Loyalton Railroad to connect their mill with the heart of the big
pine timber. Captain Roberts advanced them $40,000 for the purpose
of buying timber lands to supply the mill with work, and in
consequence of the establishment of this new industry the population
of Loyalton leaped from 50 souls to 2000 within a few years.

Denson & Schlesinger, who appeared for the defendants, strenuously
objected to any postponement of the trial, Mr. Schlesinger calling
the attention of the court to the fact that the case had been
holding for more than a year. Judge de Haven remarked that up to the
present day the defendants had not seemed very anxious for a speedy
trial, whereupon Mr. Schlesinger retorted that he had waited for
three months for a decision on a demurrer. November 6, 1903 was then
fixed peremptorily by the judge for the trial.

On November 6 the case of the United States against James M. Engle,
William S. Lewis, Richard H. Lewis and Arthur W. Keddie, charged
with subornation of perjury in land frauds, was called, and the work
of securing a jury began. First Assistant United States Attorney
Edward J. Banning appeared for the prosecution and Denson &
Schlesinger and Wehe for the defense.

On that day the issue on trial in the United States District Court
was whether the United States Government intended that the timber
lands open for sale should be acquired only by agriculturists owning
adjacent ground and for their own exclusive use only, or whether it
was intended that the timber resources of the country were to be
developed irrespective of the personality or numbers of the
developers.

There were eighteen counts and nine charges brought against the
defendants in the indictment. It was alleged in the complaint that
Engle, Keddie and Lewis secured persons to go to the land offices at
Sacramento, Susanville and Marysville in the capacity of "dummies"
and there secured 160 acres of timber land in accordance with the
stone and timber act of 1878, by paying the sum of $2.50 per acre.
This land, it was alleged, was by contract to be turned over to the
defendants. Of nine of the alleged "dummies" only one has been found
by the prosecution. There were four separate indictments against the
defendants, but only the one charging them with subornation of
perjury was being tried.

The information presented on and within this site and on the separate pages
of this site are an individual effort and in no way is this site affiliated with any
preservation group nor is this site affiliated with any transportation company past, present or future
doing business with “Western Pacific”, “Tidewater Southern”,
“Sacramento Northern”, “Central California Traction Company” in or
as part of its name. All information is presented in good faith as
being correct.

Links to this site from any other railroad,
railfan, or hobby related web site is welcomed and appreciated.

Copyrights on any graphical material presented on this site are retained by
the owner(s) or are believed to be in the public domain. Any links should be considered copyrighted by their
respective author(s). The contents of this site are presented for
personal use only and reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.